This tension you talk about is why I'm convinced that a galactic civil war was unavoidable, even without Palpatine. The senate was still corrupt, Dooku as a Jedi would have still seen the corruption and eventually would have left the Jedi order (but this time without turning to the dark side - I hate these "there were signs XYZ was eventually going to turn to the dark side" scenes, they ignore the fact that every force sensitive person if not careful had the danger of turning to the dark). He would have had a brilliant political career, actually standing up for the ignored systems instead of being nothing but a puppet. This makes his actual story so tragic. He had the potential, the political acumen, and at the beginning his heart in the right place.
to soften the blow, remember that it was palpatine who duped him, not just some shrewd politician. palpatine was the guy who had inherited thousands of years of sith knowledge and the plan to destroy the republic, not to mention palpatine had been taught by Darth Plagueis, one of the more skilled sith out there. not to mention palpatine's sheer charisma and complete understanding of the hoops of politics. count dooku was a smart and cunning man, and of course the only person who could dupe him so easily was the most prepared and planned sith in the entire universe.
I'm convinced that "turning to the dark side" was just a euphemism for "seeing how shitty things were and being affected emotionally by what you see" But with how bad things were it's impossible not to feel the way Dooku did when he saw what he saw and experienced what he experienced. The Jedi's aversion to emotion became almost synonymous to neglect because that was essentially what they were doing, but if you tell them to go do something, they'd tell you to calm down while they meditate on what course of action was the wisest one to take, which would only infuriate you more, until you're in this feedback loop that spirals to "the dark side".
@@nansalem2142 "the Jedi's aversion to emotion" I think their aversion (at least at the beginning of the order's history) was towards having anything in life to lose (material possessions, family etc.) because if you have anything or anyone then you also have the lingering fear of what if you lose that thing or person. Love and fear go hand in hand (whenever you love someone you also fear losing them, even if only through breakup for example) and fear is the path to the dark side (which might indicate that force sensitive beings - while having abilities others could only dream of - were also a little more unstable mentally than the average person - hence the need for regular meditation -, maybe as the midiclorians' effect on their brain - but this is only my speculation - and the early Jedi order might have recognized this liability so to not pose such danger to others they willingly gave up having families of their own etc.). They were supposed to be like buddhist monks in that sense. Then over thousands of years they came closer and closer to the material world, from their far away homeworld to Coruscant and finally to politics and warfare. They had allies and prestige to lose, the purpose of the order got blurred with the purpose of seeking power and that's the Jedi order Anakin got introduced to. No wonder he was confused and he even said the Jedi's duty is to love, well no, the Jedi's duty was to observe and learn.
It is true that you could just as easily write Dooku as the "political idealist" that the Jedi Council initially thought that he was. One didn't need to become a Sith to see that the Republic was dysfunctional and the Jedi were too preoccupied with keeping their place as a state-sponsored religion to be "guardians of peace and justice" (as Obi-Wan put it). But then, such a large polity is unrealistic in the extreme. Even before the Separatists, the Trade Federation's attempt to conquer Naboo bluntly demonstrated how individual members of the Republic had minimal restrictions on what they could do because the central government was too weak to enforce order.
Slight correction, unless it is actually said otherwise; Coruscant, Alderaan and Corellia are located in the Core, not the Deep Core. The Deep Core is the dense center of the galaxy and home to Byss, Tython and the Empress Teta system. Hyperspace travel is very very difficult, and that's how the CIS fleet was able to sneak attack Coruscant.
No you’re definitely correct. The Deep Core, just as you said, is very difficult to navigate, and as such, is naturally inhibitive to any kind of major galactic centers for anything. But the Deep Core is really well suited to hidden stuff and last stand hideouts for the exact same reason it isn’t good for something like a center or culture or a seat of government. Hard to navigate and nobody goes there
It might be accurate to say that they are in the "deep" (lowercase "d") Core. For example, Empress Teta was colonized at least partly by sleeper ships from Coruscant. The distances weren't that great, it was just that the densely-packed celestial bodies in the "real" Deep Core made travel difficult. I seem to recall reading somewhere that travel between Coruscant and Alderaan could take as long as a trip to the Outer Rim simply because you couldn't just take a shortcut through the Deep Core and had to go around it.
This is very well thought out, and I agree with many of your conclusions! I actually have a document where I write down my headcanon for a realistic Star Wars Universe. One of the points I wrote is about the growth of the New Sith Empire which takes advantage of the issues you describe to take control of the Mid and Outer Rim, and then use their resources to build up and conquer more and more of the inner galaxy. They actually become popular in these regions because they put a focus on actually investing in them. As a result when the New Sith Empire collapses because of the Jedi, the Outer Rim and Mid Rim sort of fall into chaos. This gets even worse when the Republic comes in and basically destroy the last remaining authorities in the region, resulting in extremely high crime rates and piracy, forcing the Republic to militarily occupy them for some time. The same thing happens again to a lesser extent after the Empire falls. Only this time, some of these regions form their own governments separate from the core New Republic. he say it DTeague 501 DTeague 501.
Deep core is where stars are so densely packed travel is almost impossible, and therefore it’s mostly uninhabited. Planets in Deep core include Byss and Tython. Planet’s like Coruscant are in the Core, not Deep Core
I believe you're referring to the 'galactic core' or 'galactic center'. This is an area full of exploding stars, nebulae, failed planets and of course black holes. The 'deep core is a periphery around the galactic center. Travel on the outer edge of the deep core is not impossible but would be extremely hazardous.
@@AngryMarine-il6ej no, I mean the deep core, which is the area where Tython and Byss are. Coruscant lies close to the border between core and deep core, all worlds that are refered to as Coreworlds are in the Core refion, not Deep Core.
"Densely packed" is a relative term, and when it comes to the proximity of celestial bodies in open space it doesn't really mean much. There's a lower limit to how close stars and planets can be without just falling into each other, and that lower limit is still very, very VERY far apart
@@Superabound2 dude, that’s Star Wars. Guys move objects with their minds and fight with laser swords. But if you want to go scientific about it (why) the number and closeness of stars matters in sw because hyperspace is a mirror dimention, where real objects create „gravity shadows”. The distance between those shadows is much smaller than real objects (that’s why in hyperspace you can reach destinations light years away in a couple of hours, they are not moving faster, they are making the distance shorter). In deep core there’s so many black holes, stars, the works, that within hyperspace you’re almost guaranteed to hit their shadow. The few hyperspace routes (tunnels in hyperspace free of gravity shadows) frequently change due to movements of those objects within deep core, hence only a handful of planets there have been explored- hyperspace travel is simply too dangerous there - and before you answer, no I do not care if it doesn’t make sense, i did not make this up, that’s established star wars lore. Again this is laser sword fantasy scifi universe, I really don’t understand why anyone would bring actual physics to this discussion xd
The big problem is too much centralisation in the deep core, when there should have been cultural, political and economic hotspots all over the galaxy. These would radiate authority out to the wider galaxy, but instead local fiefdoms sprang out as a consequence. I think the Republic was just too big, and collapsed under its own weight, with the Sith clipping away at the foundations speeding things up.
Without the sith, their was no way the Republic would have survived for so long. They united the Republic by being the boogie man that scare planets into subservience.
@@Enchie catch-22 situation then, either no Sith leads to stagnation or the Sith constantly trying to conquer. The rule of two did both which really hastened the fall of the Republic when all the pieces were in place, the fact that it took a thousand years shows how durable the Republic was even with its flaws.
@@thegreenmanofnorwich fair point, but I would be ok with a bit of competition than whatever the Sith and the Empire wanted to do, straight up survival of the fittest does not end well in society.
Honestly, The Jedi and Sith actually wanted the same thing. Peace....difference was the Jedi thought the people could govern themselves and only stepped in if they had to. SITH thought Peace could only happen if people were controlled
Urban versus rural is a dispute in any society. But it does pay to keep in mind the population differences. For example, many Core worlds are ecumenopoli, with tens/hundreds of billions, if not trillions of people living on them. Contrast Coruscant with Tatooine when it comes to full-time resident population. Many Outer Rim (and even Mid Rim and Expansion Region) worlds have only scattered outposts and maybe a bunch of homesteaders. The irony is that the Republic would have had to become *much* more authoritarian (and thus like the Empire) in order to adequately police the enormous region. Especially as star systems are farther apart in the Outer Rim than they are in the Core. The individualists of the Outer Rim would probably be better served forming some kind of commonwealth. But their biggest problem would be the corporate interests that *want* them to remain fragmented an unable to form a stronger regional government. You cannot tout libertarianism, only to turn around and complain that your government doesn't do enough to control your life.
It's hard to be independent enough to have your own homestead and do things the way you want AND have a cruiser and starfighter squadron in orbit paid to keep the pirates and other scum and villainry away.
@@westrim - This is why even the loudest self-proclaimed "libertarians" still want things like law enforcement/justice and a powerful military. They just don't want to pay taxes for them. The prequel era Republic was actually *very* libertarian. The central government was demilitarized and relied heavily on a faith-based organization to provide peacekeeping services. Away from Coruscant the Republic had very little control over everyday life in most systems. Your planetary/system government had more real power over you than the Senate did.
@@daniels7907 The republic is an interesting example in how it provides arguments for an against such institutions and systems. Yeah the republic wasn't providing a lot but it was also acting as a block against individual worlds being able to take enough action against bad actors because of poor policy making magnified by bloat and corruption. Yet palaptines words struck a cord with many who saw an oppurtunity to try and order things which had gone wrong. That being what makes the majority of the galaxy end up welcoming the empire up until alderaan and the senate being disbanded.
When you talked about how it is similar between farmers basically everywhere, My dad was a farmer here in America until he retired. He went to visit a former foreign exchange student in Thailand. He met farmers in Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia and he saw how things were different and yet the same. When I travel just inside the country I can see something similar with the rural people across the country weather it is in the mountains or the plains, many things are similar for the rural.
Ultimately, the Republic had a duty to help the galaxy become more connected through trade and economic stability. Palpatine and Dooku used weak points to create more division that lead to a galactic war. The Old Republic lasted for 25,000 years, but was stagnated with politics that only helped a few, but neglected others. Think about how difficult it would have been for Palpatine to conspire against the galaxy if the Republic devoted all its resources to uplift every star system for the last many thousands of years. If you have a stronger connection with the whole galaxy, the more difficult it is to divide it.
The lore says 25,000 years but the reality is that it goes through so many periods of catastrophic war and change through that time that you could not realistically call it the same institution with a straight face any more than you could call the Britain of 1500 and 2000 the same place.
The Republic is at least 4-7000 years old though if you reject the MMORPG as incompatible. The galaxy could not reach the state it did in most of the Bane Lore had such things actually happened. Once they face one immortal enemy, people will try harder to create immortality for the good. They'll achieve it. Everything would be different. Force Ghosts would never have been lost as a technique. It's why Force Healing enters the Lore more seriously after facing Palpatine's clones in the books. Anyway. The Republic Did try all that to unite the galaxy. They were not eldritch gods, they were mostly humanoids. They forged hyperspace lanes and reached planetwide peace on many worlds. That is more than we have achieved so far.
I really enjoyed this video. As a casual Star Wars fan, its always been difficult for me to comprehend just how big the galaxy is. Because the only sectors that are mentioned are the outer rim, mid rim, and core worlds. So the question I got stuck on was "how do so many planets fit in three sections?". But now i know theres so many more sections for so many more planets to fit in. That makes more sense. I also didnt know that senators represent sectors. I just thought that each senator represented a single planet, which made the galaxy seem small. But now it just makes sense that there are hundreds of clusters of planets and stars in a bigger galaxy. And thats just in the known region.
Some senators are for single worlds, some for corporations, most for different groupings of worlds. Naboo was one of 14 worlds represented by Senators Palpatine and Amidala. There are an estimated 1 million inhabited worlds in the Republic, not counting outposts or various types of stations. Galaxies are big.
If each planet had a senator, then the entire world of Coruscant itself would have to be converted into the Senate chamber... I thought like you did and thought it just wasn't possible, but now I see that it's sectors, not planets. Hell, if every STAR in the Galaxy had a senator, the planet would still have to be converted into one giant senate. Stars in galaxies number in the billions or trillions. A Galactic Empire or Republic literally is not possible.
Rich Nations and Poor Nations by Renegade Cut has an analysis that basically explains the relationship between the Galactic Core and Galactic Rim in Star Wars.
Excelente vídeo! This is the first time I see anyone addressing the Star Wars universe with a broader and more thoughtful manner. Very aligned with the Andor TV series approach.
10:40 That's really true! I am an engineering student, and at my side job, I work with engineers. It very interesting how engineering students and engineers in general, from many different nations, have a lot of common ground. Not just in their profession, but in the way they see the world.
Great Great Great. Nothing but Great. I'm an old Star Wars fan. I was born in 77 and I remember my old man reluctantly taking me to the marathon trilogy screenings at the movies post Jedi. I read Heir to the Empire in 91 as an adolescent and I was starving for The Phantom Menace (sad cat noises). I've read most of the now non-cannon books, and tried to accept the new cannon, with varying degrees of success. As an adult I have studied my ass off with degrees into history, science and education. This is by far the best detailed sociological explanation of the Star Wars universe I've seen, and hits points I've never considered. Seriously awesome job. Well done dude.
The 2020 book, "Queen's Peril" by E. K. Johnston, if you do not know, is a closer, more detailed following of Queen Amidala and her court of bodyguards/handmaidens as well as Captain Panaka and his function as the head of the Royal Guard of Naboo. The timespan of the story takes place from Padme Amidala's first day as Queen of Naboo through the events leading up to and during the story shown in the film, "The Phantom Menace." Within the storyline of the book, aspects of the political framework between Naboo and its closest neighbors, as well as in relation to the Galactic Republic is given a more informed explanation or understanding for the readers.
Lucas and Disney liked to focus on the Good vs Evil story... but really, it's always the common folk who lose in any conflict. The Legends EU actually explored this more. The Shades of Grey. At least Disney is taking the hint thanks to Andor.
Actually the sleeper ships they were used before the infinite empire conquered the galaxy because their form of hyper drive use the force they could only find planets that were rich in the force they couldn’t just travel anywhere they couldn’t just map out a hyper space lane so most of the Galaxy was still unexplored and there were plenty of alien civilizations that Rosa became technologically advanced to develop slower than light travel sleeper ships and even developing ships that could travel directly at the speed of light After the infinite empire conquered these worlds though their slaves were taught in someways to work their technology which was considerably more advanced and when the empire fell the back engineered ricotta technology and developed a way to manipulate hyper space without utilizing the force it’s all in Star Wars Wookiepidea
This is very well thought out, and I agree with many of your conclusions! I actually have a document where I write down my headcanon for a realistic Star Wars Universe. One of the points I wrote is about the growth of the New Sith Empire which takes advantage of the issues you describe to take control of the Mid and Outer Rim, and then use their resources to build up and conquer more and more of the inner galaxy. They actually become popular in these regions because they put a focus on actually investing in them. As a result when the New Sith Empire collapses because of the Jedi, the Outer Rim and Mid Rim sort of fall into chaos. This gets even worse when the Republic comes in and basically destroy the last remaining authorities in the region, resulting in extremely high crime rates and piracy, forcing the Republic to militarily occupy them for some time. The same thing happens again to a lesser extent after the Empire falls. Only this time, some of these regions form their own governments separate from the core New Republic.
Is it possible that I could get access to that document? I'm building an Alternate Universe to the Star Wars galaxy for a role-playing table I have, and it'd be very useful!
My favorite scene in all of Star Wars is in The Force Awakens when starkiller base blows up several planets in yhe system which shows how these planets had their own history displaying culture and war that we never learn about. Only to have each of these planets wiped out in a matter of seconds after getting to know them, it’s very discomforting to me knowing something so detailed and with so much to learn about was just gone like that.
Allan you just blew my mind. I never looked at the situation that way. I will think about this while I scrape my brains off the wall. Kinda need them. Happy new year. Thanks for what you do.
If James Luceno's novel, "Darth Plagueis" is to be believed, the tension between the core and outer rim was orchestrated by the Bane line of Sith. So, the real conflict in Star Wars is still Light Side vs Dark Side.
in the 90s, i read a Tales of the Jedi ? comic or some star wars comic book and it was about a brother and sister living on a space station? and they were map makers, of hyperspace bylanes? and they owed money to their landlord, who was a Hutt, and that's all i remember, that and that hyperspace bylanes weren't fully mapped out yet.
The idea that the Core vs the Rim is the basis for Star Wars conflicts is patently false. Not only did the Republic Army and Navy prior to the New Sith Wars have plenty of support from the Outer Rim during their wars against the Sith, but the Sith-led Galactic Empire was as much a boon to the Outer Rim worlds as it was for the Core, with many worlds gaining industries to support the war effort, as well as gaining jobs in both the industry and the army, along with actual protection as opposed to the taxation-without-protection that the Republic prior to the Clone Wars offered. Not to mention that the top three men in the Empire, Emperor Palpatine, Grand Moff Tarkin, and Darth Vader, all came from outside the Core Worlds. Eriadu and Tatooine were both Outer Rim planets, Naboo was on the Mid-Rim but bordering close to the Outer Rim. From an outside glance, it seems as if the Empire favored the core worlds over the Outer Rim, but that is a bold-faced lie. Vader and the Emperor treated the coreworld elite like disposable thugs, letting them serve in the army and navy as generals and admirals, but having no compunction in sending them to die or killing them when they fail. Not to mention that Tarkin annihilated Alderaan, which was a very important Core World, and the Empire's final refuge after it lost Coruscant was Bastion, so even the Empire made its final home in the Outer Rim after the coreworld senatorial elite retook their power during the rise of the New Republic and the Galactic Alliance. So at the end of the day, the Empire was an Outer Rim faction; it got a hold of the core for a while, but its top three men were Outer Rim yokels and they treated the coreworld elite like cannon fodder. Every war after the Galactic Civil War further reinforced this; the New Republic and the Rebel Alliance, which looks like they'd stand for the Outer Rim yokels against the Empire, were actually funded by coreworld elites and abandoned many Outer Rim systems to the Yuuzhan Vong in their vain attempt to lure the Vong to a climactic fleet battle. The coreworld elites stopped being the Emperor's pawns and became senatorial aristocracy once again under the New Republic and the Galactic Alliance, and wars such as the Imperial-Sith War and the Second Galactic Civil War were less about the core versus the rim, but more about ideas and beliefs. The Imperial-Sith War was a civil war between Jedi Imperials and Sith Imperials, to decide who would rule the Empire after the Galactic Alliance fell. The Second Galactic Civil War was started due to a spat between Corellia and Coruscant-two core worlds. Outside of the Pius Dea Crusades and the Republic's early expansion wars, the only war in Star Wars which was about the core versus the Outer Rim in the films was the Clone Wars. And that war was a fake war to begin with. Not to mention the fact that during the Jedi-Sith wars, both had their patsies in the Outer Rim and the Core Worlds. Some Outer Rim worlds stood strong for the Republic. Some Core World factions in Alderaan and Corellia supported the Sith. Hell, during the New Sith Wars, most of the galaxy fell to the Sith, with only Coruscant and a few systems remaining with the Republic. So much for the core-vs-outer rim thing; most of the galaxy during the New Sith Wars answered to one Sith lord or another.
Core vs rim is a funny way to look at it when the alsakkan conflicts which were pretty big and bloody were almost entirely fought by core worlders and put many others but the sith wars to shame
@@АлексейМомот-щ7о House Thul in Alderaan supported the Sith, while Organa supported the Jedi and House Ulgo created an independent military dictatorship that both sides fought against.
@@АлексейМомот-щ7о "You see, Princess Leia, I am redeeming Alderaan of its past crimes." -Grand Moff Tarkin 5 seconds before Alderaan turns into space dust
Agree that we’re all not that different. The real solution is to kind of live and let live. Most people won’t mess with you if you just…leave them alone. The problem comes when people in one place try to give their will on others. For example, an urban area trying to force their worldview and laws on surrounding rural areas. When the simple answer for peace is simple inaction - it requires no effort to leave people alone. It’s the exact opposite, in fact - it simply requires no effort at all.
You sparked an idea for a story. When you mentioned the early force useres mapping out lanes - I think there is potential in some really good stories there. Humming- creative juicers flowing. Of course, I've not reD much of the EU, and none of the comics, so I don't know if there is anything like that now.
Immensely interesting. You sketch an astoundingly vast tapestry upon which aspiring novelists (my hand is in the air!) could weave innumerable stories!
In swtor there's this really nice plot the sith use. They basically exploit the hate the outer rim had for the core in order to gain support in the outer rim just to eventually exploit them in their turn
I think that for the best of the galaxy, the Republic should be limited to just the Core Worlds while the other territories in the galaxy can be allowed to form their own independent nations.
You have a nice idea, but there are reasons why many regions of our planet lack what netizens take for granted. It takes knowledge, wisdom and determination across generations to make a habitable world reach the relative insignificance of Naboo. Usually that combination is not found all in one place, and there needs to be some reasons for people with all that to gather. Half the reason there is anyone living in the Outer-Rim is because of finance from the Core, failing that some big fish of the Mid-Rim who was once financed by the Core. The other half is a mix of crime & freedom-seeking. Building civilization is hard, and investment from outside the project can make it easier - at least in theory.
I love your break downs. The way you look at the world. I think you would enjoy James A Michener books especially The Source. When I was on my first tour in Afghanistan I saw a mother being tender with her daughters and I thought. That mother and her daughters has more similarities with my mom and my sisters than difference and I felt shook. Thanks for your content. I'm surprised your not a vet with how you break things down
Very interesting piece. I love that kind of thiking beyond. Thanks. One point looks weird for a french like me: the idea that urban centers enjoy a strong-hand leadership and that more backwater areas prefer a looser rule. Looking at history from my country I kinda see it the other way around: people from big cities and mostly from Paris were the first to try and fight central power, perhaps because they were the first to feel the tight grip of monarchy, while people in the countryside remained loyal to the crown longer - even fought the newly founded republic - and with historic retrospect seemed relieved when someone took power again. This struggle to be free kept appearing in cities (first documented one I can think of dates back to 12th century, when Bordeaux tried to found a commune) and kept alive for than a century after Paris first beheaded a king. So, long story shorty, for me it's kinda surprising that Star Wars galaxy looks like it's the other way around. You sound like it seems the obvious way to you. So I wonder... are we french people taking things in reverse or is it just the galactic/US way that's uncommon ?
Been that way since the dawn of agriculture; I don't expect it to change any time soon. Cain was a settled farmer and proto-urbanite while Able was a migratory shepherd.
It always seems to get overlooked that the Empire did not create their whole system from scratch. They built on Republic institutions and practices. Some were definitely made worse but the foundations were much older that the Empire.
Happy New Year dude. Been a sub of yours for years. Keep up the great work. Hope this trip around the flaming nuclear fireball in the sky 🌞brings you health and happiness.
Hahaha omg how am I even here still Well actually it sucks because I know so many of you kept getting me out of my own messes lol But for the love of God and the decades of wondering never knowing who I even was or what purpose I had Honestly I often just said I'm left on here till one day I'll be free or released and that was worst times when abuse own body health demonic as others wanted but keept getting up for another punishing journey. 😊😊😊Then it hit me I just need say goodbye and walk away from that life I new there was always a presence but when I went solo on the streets It was like everyone laughing mocking lying and I was like Take me to school and work on my flaws and one day I'll be back again. I love all who made. It possible
Makes me think of the Expanse tv show (Earth vs Mara, with Belters used & abused) or the concept of less latency & therefore more desirability for cyber entities inward in the solar system vs the outer planets in the book Accelerando (by Charles Stross). Thanks for the interesting take on the Star Wars space opera universe! (I guess George Lucas did always enjoy human and political and/or philosophical story structures more than the science.)
This matches ideas here in our world of “core” and “peripheral” zones. At the macro level the core zones are consumers, often colonised lands like Australia and the U.S, while the peripheral zones which are fertile areas previously occupied during previous centuries now producing the goods they consume: e.g coffee, bought just above the cost of production. On a smaller scale this happens within countries and within cities, which you can see with residential and industrial zoning. This maps on well to the notion of proletariat and bourgeoisie but not perfectly.
5:21 : As far as I know Padme acutely represented just Naboo. This was due to the fact that Naboo joined really late (not even a 100 Years BBY), so late that time of expansion was over and there wouldn't be a problem whit further planets joining and wanting one seat for their own. Also, Naboo was of great Economic important, because it exported Plasma, a rare resource and the republic desperately wanted it. It also had a long history/culture of politic participation + it had relatively many inhabitants. Source: Plagues triologie
Sometimes people dont choose where to live, they live where they can as well how they can such as well constructed residencies or inhuman self made houses.
This got me thinking about what earth would be like if it was in the Star wars galaxy, and how it would be treated if it was in different regions. It's on the larger side in population, and although not even close to many planets in the Galaxy, give it star wars tech and a century, it'd be a heck of a lot higher, giving it a sizeable population. One of the things that sets Earth apart from the planets in Star wars is that it is far less homogeneous, both in terms of geography and population. Like imagine Earth today getting one single representative in the galactic Senate, or even having to share one with other planets; we'd be pissed about that. Tbf having the technology of the star wars universe and being heavily involved in galactic affairs would probably help get earthlings to cooperate as whole more, but I think it would still be a major issue
One of the interesting aspects of star wars is that it’s completely unipolar during peacetime. We can see a lot of parallels between star wars and the geopolitics of our post-colonial world, the galactic core is essentially the global north and the rim regions are the global south. But the key difference is that in star wars, the core is completely united. The real world has always been multipolar, first it was European empires competing to expand their colonial influence, then it was the ideological struggle of socialism vs. capitalism during the cold war, and now it’s looking like the next few decades will be a rivalry between the US and China. The galaxy was essentially always united under the Republic or Empire, rather than there being multiple large political entities looking to spread their influence to the outer rim and economically compete with one another. The factions that oppose the core are either not large enough to compete with it economically and in political influence, or end up directly going to war with the core and destroying themselves in the process (or becoming the new core in the case of the rebellion becoming the alliance to restore the republic)
From a realism standpoint, space is huuuuuge. For example, different mining groups could continue exploiting new barren planets and asteroids for a very long time before actually finding themselves in competition, or in any meaningful way seeing those resources start to dwindle. So unless you're, say, a merchant looking to cater to a specific clientele, you probably don't have it too rough with competition; and if you do, you can probably move to a different market just slightly further away without too much difficulty. The expansiveness of the galaxy could contribute to how there rarely seems to be competition between these groups. But I agree that it is curious that they are so unified in ideologies, at least in peaceful times. Perhaps they've seen such issues hashed out so many times over 25,000 years that they just need to look at history books now, to decide what to believe ideologically.
The prequels generation really missed out on a lot of stuff that the original trilogy generation grew up on. About the second trilogy... they have toys at least
Generation Tech, that is probably the BEST video that you made on Star Wars. You could probably categorize Star Wars as a Galactic Tragedy of the Commons. Or just Tragedy of the Galactic Commons. Let me know your thoughts.
She’s always referred to as “…the senator from Naboo…” which is the same honorific we use in the USA for our senators who do represent a single state that they’re from, the confusion is very understandable
Stable hyperspace lanes has to do with the physics of the galaxy and the technology of ships. It was in the internet of smugglers and pioneers to figure those out without government help. Communications arrays would probably be a Republic infrastructure interest, but the areas were dangerous. It was usually against the ideals of the Republic to have a standing army except when the Sith were an immediate present danger. Had the Republic chosen to not disband its professional military forces, it could have brought security to the rim worlds and even better economically exploited and regulated them to fight the Hutts and Bounty Hunters. Presumably it was logistics at for the most part they were busy trying to stabilize just that with the Mid Rim Jedi missions but to save costs they liked outsourcing to the Jedi Order instead of committing to an Army. The Jedi could fairly easily police a certain distance from Coruscant, but not too far. The Intergalactic Banking Clan came under the control of the Sith approximately 400 BBY ish when Darth Tenebrous noted that it was the best place to plant his apprentice Plagueis on. I don't know the name of Tenebrous' Master but it would have been shortly after Darth Gaean I think.
Honestly, how can you manage an entire galaxy under on government and hope to fulfill basic needs of everyone CIS or something similar is something that would have happened naturally someday if Palpatine hadn't pushed it.
@@spaceengineeringempire4086 last I check, even in our history, establishing a secondary government when the government is too big to manage ALWAYS goes wrong... See: Alexander's Empire after his death, Mongol Empire, and Roman Empire split in to East and West.
Rural vs Urban. The more things change, the more they stay the same. We've been doing this since the ancient days of Nomadic Herders vs Settled Farmers. The future is bright!
I love these thoughtful societal kind of videos! I wonder what the most optimal and fair system of government would be for the Star Wars Galaxy. Maybe something like a mix of the EU and US perhaps; where sectors would be able to handle their own internal and some external affairs with other sectors, while there is also central federal government that can manage issues of pan-galactic importance and determines certain equitable minimum standards (ie sentient rights, labor practices, environmental management, wages, equitable resource and capital distribution, etc) for each sector to have? Or maybe give every planet in the Galaxy core world levels of representation. 😂 I wish I knew more about how the New Republic worked in canon & legends. I think The Templin Institute's imagined version of the New Republic was very compelling.
I've always wondered if the presence of teleportation gateways would actually improve the Star wars Galaxy, not like the wharf gates in Warhammer 40K but more kin to perhaps Stargates or space Bridges from transformers? I know about the ancient gateways created by the rakata , the gree and the kwa. I mean actual gateways created by say whatever is raining over the Galaxy a few hundred years after the collapse of the galactic Republic whoever is capable and could create these as a way of establishing a permanent order by guaranteeing economic and cultural peace
I only clicked on the video and comments at first just to see if anyone else was going to mention the laziness of the thumbnail and spelling. Thumbnails are very easy to swap out and change, more than anything else on a video. Hate to see someone go to all this effort for a video and have that on the cover. Will it happen?
You mentioned that your alligance is to the Republic and to democracy. That's a bit of a contridiction because they are not the same. A republic is a representative form of government (where congressmen and/or senators represent the people) and a democracy is where the majority rules. Just throwing that out there. :) I still really enjoyed this video.
Referring to your point at 10:33, I think the framing we have for our daily lives as adhering to a national identity does definitely blind the commonalities and universal experiences we all go through, and that really emphasizes, to me, the dangers and potential obsolescence of Nationalism as a part of your identity. We're all people before we're American, Vietnamese, etc. The history and context of those identities absolutely matter, but staying rigidly adhered to them on principle or being confined to them is bad and can be disastrous
Nice analysis! The history of humanity has basically been this, the exploitation of the periphery by an imperial core. Specifically it mirrors the forced extraction of resources and labor value from the Global South to the benefit of the Global North, and the anti-imperial struggles within those exploited countries that are always suppressed through covert CIA-induced coups or overt military interventions.
If you like this also check out Dune and Foundation written by Frank Herbert and Isaac Asimov respectively which Star wars also draws from, and Akira Kurosawas movie the Hidden fortress based on Japans Edo period.
As a Star Wars fan old enough to remember the Christmas holiday special (that made me a Star Wars fan), I can say that I appreciate over these decades that Lucas has been able to incorporate many of his original ideas-such as Journey of the Whills, and if any of his original ideas became a source of inspiration, say, for the characters in Rebels. I could be completely off base here, but whenever I watch the original trilogy, I think it’s more the story of Darth Vader. When I watch the prequel’s, I think it’s more of the story of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Obi-Wan. Now there’s a guy who could turn lemons into lemonade. I think Luke Skywalker’s true adventures start immediately after Return of the Jedi and we only get that in the role-playing game and fanfiction that is now in the garbage- thanks to Disney!
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This tension you talk about is why I'm convinced that a galactic civil war was unavoidable, even without Palpatine. The senate was still corrupt, Dooku as a Jedi would have still seen the corruption and eventually would have left the Jedi order (but this time without turning to the dark side - I hate these "there were signs XYZ was eventually going to turn to the dark side" scenes, they ignore the fact that every force sensitive person if not careful had the danger of turning to the dark). He would have had a brilliant political career, actually standing up for the ignored systems instead of being nothing but a puppet. This makes his actual story so tragic. He had the potential, the political acumen, and at the beginning his heart in the right place.
to soften the blow, remember that it was palpatine who duped him, not just some shrewd politician. palpatine was the guy who had inherited thousands of years of sith knowledge and the plan to destroy the republic, not to mention palpatine had been taught by Darth Plagueis, one of the more skilled sith out there. not to mention palpatine's sheer charisma and complete understanding of the hoops of politics.
count dooku was a smart and cunning man, and of course the only person who could dupe him so easily was the most prepared and planned sith in the entire universe.
@@sovietunion7643 It's the Batman Principle: with enough prep time; they will always win.
I'm convinced that "turning to the dark side" was just a euphemism for "seeing how shitty things were and being affected emotionally by what you see"
But with how bad things were it's impossible not to feel the way Dooku did when he saw what he saw and experienced what he experienced.
The Jedi's aversion to emotion became almost synonymous to neglect because that was essentially what they were doing, but if you tell them to go do something, they'd tell you to calm down while they meditate on what course of action was the wisest one to take, which would only infuriate you more, until you're in this feedback loop that spirals to "the dark side".
@@nansalem2142 "the Jedi's aversion to emotion"
I think their aversion (at least at the beginning of the order's history) was towards having anything in life to lose (material possessions, family etc.) because if you have anything or anyone then you also have the lingering fear of what if you lose that thing or person. Love and fear go hand in hand (whenever you love someone you also fear losing them, even if only through breakup for example) and fear is the path to the dark side (which might indicate that force sensitive beings - while having abilities others could only dream of - were also a little more unstable mentally than the average person - hence the need for regular meditation -, maybe as the midiclorians' effect on their brain - but this is only my speculation - and the early Jedi order might have recognized this liability so to not pose such danger to others they willingly gave up having families of their own etc.). They were supposed to be like buddhist monks in that sense. Then over thousands of years they came closer and closer to the material world, from their far away homeworld to Coruscant and finally to politics and warfare. They had allies and prestige to lose, the purpose of the order got blurred with the purpose of seeking power and that's the Jedi order Anakin got introduced to. No wonder he was confused and he even said the Jedi's duty is to love, well no, the Jedi's duty was to observe and learn.
It is true that you could just as easily write Dooku as the "political idealist" that the Jedi Council initially thought that he was. One didn't need to become a Sith to see that the Republic was dysfunctional and the Jedi were too preoccupied with keeping their place as a state-sponsored religion to be "guardians of peace and justice" (as Obi-Wan put it). But then, such a large polity is unrealistic in the extreme. Even before the Separatists, the Trade Federation's attempt to conquer Naboo bluntly demonstrated how individual members of the Republic had minimal restrictions on what they could do because the central government was too weak to enforce order.
Slight correction, unless it is actually said otherwise; Coruscant, Alderaan and Corellia are located in the Core, not the Deep Core. The Deep Core is the dense center of the galaxy and home to Byss, Tython and the Empress Teta system. Hyperspace travel is very very difficult, and that's how the CIS fleet was able to sneak attack Coruscant.
No you’re definitely correct. The Deep Core, just as you said, is very difficult to navigate, and as such, is naturally inhibitive to any kind of major galactic centers for anything. But the Deep Core is really well suited to hidden stuff and last stand hideouts for the exact same reason it isn’t good for something like a center or culture or a seat of government. Hard to navigate and nobody goes there
Another correction is the thumbnail… Feud is not spelled fued 😂
I love the CIS, the drones should in the future should enact the largest galactic war.
It might be accurate to say that they are in the "deep" (lowercase "d") Core. For example, Empress Teta was colonized at least partly by sleeper ships from Coruscant. The distances weren't that great, it was just that the densely-packed celestial bodies in the "real" Deep Core made travel difficult. I seem to recall reading somewhere that travel between Coruscant and Alderaan could take as long as a trip to the Outer Rim simply because you couldn't just take a shortcut through the Deep Core and had to go around it.
This is very well thought out, and I agree with many of your conclusions!
I actually have a document where I write down my headcanon for a realistic Star Wars Universe. One of the points I wrote is about the growth of the New Sith Empire which takes advantage of the issues you describe to take control of the Mid and Outer Rim, and then use their resources to build up and conquer more and more of the inner galaxy. They actually become popular in these regions because they put a focus on actually investing in them. As a result when the New Sith Empire collapses because of the Jedi, the Outer Rim and Mid Rim sort of fall into chaos. This gets even worse when the Republic comes in and basically destroy the last remaining authorities in the region, resulting in extremely high crime rates and piracy, forcing the Republic to militarily occupy them for some time. The same thing happens again to a lesser extent after the Empire falls. Only this time, some of these regions form their own governments separate from the core New Republic. he say it DTeague 501 DTeague 501.
Deep core is where stars are so densely packed travel is almost impossible, and therefore it’s mostly uninhabited. Planets in Deep core include Byss and Tython. Planet’s like Coruscant are in the Core, not Deep Core
I believe you're referring to the 'galactic core' or 'galactic center'. This is an area full of exploding stars, nebulae, failed planets and of course black holes. The 'deep core is a periphery around the galactic center. Travel on the outer edge of the deep core is not impossible but would be extremely hazardous.
@@AngryMarine-il6ej no, I mean the deep core, which is the area where Tython and Byss are. Coruscant lies close to the border between core and deep core, all worlds that are refered to as Coreworlds are in the Core refion, not Deep Core.
@@Walsinats4 🇵🇱🫡
"Densely packed" is a relative term, and when it comes to the proximity of celestial bodies in open space it doesn't really mean much. There's a lower limit to how close stars and planets can be without just falling into each other, and that lower limit is still very, very VERY far apart
@@Superabound2 dude, that’s Star Wars. Guys move objects with their minds and fight with laser swords. But if you want to go scientific about it (why) the number and closeness of stars matters in sw because hyperspace is a mirror dimention, where real objects create „gravity shadows”. The distance between those shadows is much smaller than real objects (that’s why in hyperspace you can reach destinations light years away in a couple of hours, they are not moving faster, they are making the distance shorter). In deep core there’s so many black holes, stars, the works, that within hyperspace you’re almost guaranteed to hit their shadow. The few hyperspace routes (tunnels in hyperspace free of gravity shadows) frequently change due to movements of those objects within deep core, hence only a handful of planets there have been explored- hyperspace travel is simply too dangerous there - and before you answer, no I do not care if it doesn’t make sense, i did not make this up, that’s established star wars lore. Again this is laser sword fantasy scifi universe, I really don’t understand why anyone would bring actual physics to this discussion xd
The big problem is too much centralisation in the deep core, when there should have been cultural, political and economic hotspots all over the galaxy. These would radiate authority out to the wider galaxy, but instead local fiefdoms sprang out as a consequence. I think the Republic was just too big, and collapsed under its own weight, with the Sith clipping away at the foundations speeding things up.
Without the sith, their was no way the Republic would have survived for so long. They united the Republic by being the boogie man that scare planets into subservience.
@@Enchie catch-22 situation then, either no Sith leads to stagnation or the Sith constantly trying to conquer. The rule of two did both which really hastened the fall of the Republic when all the pieces were in place, the fact that it took a thousand years shows how durable the Republic was even with its flaws.
A polycentric system does have relative strengths, though it would be prone to competition between the centres.
@@thegreenmanofnorwich fair point, but I would be ok with a bit of competition than whatever the Sith and the Empire wanted to do, straight up survival of the fittest does not end well in society.
Honestly, The Jedi and Sith actually wanted the same thing. Peace....difference was the Jedi thought the people could govern themselves and only stepped in if they had to. SITH thought Peace could only happen if people were controlled
Urban versus rural is a dispute in any society. But it does pay to keep in mind the population differences. For example, many Core worlds are ecumenopoli, with tens/hundreds of billions, if not trillions of people living on them. Contrast Coruscant with Tatooine when it comes to full-time resident population. Many Outer Rim (and even Mid Rim and Expansion Region) worlds have only scattered outposts and maybe a bunch of homesteaders. The irony is that the Republic would have had to become *much* more authoritarian (and thus like the Empire) in order to adequately police the enormous region. Especially as star systems are farther apart in the Outer Rim than they are in the Core. The individualists of the Outer Rim would probably be better served forming some kind of commonwealth. But their biggest problem would be the corporate interests that *want* them to remain fragmented an unable to form a stronger regional government. You cannot tout libertarianism, only to turn around and complain that your government doesn't do enough to control your life.
Wether it’s a city state and it’s hinterland or a vast interstellar empire the conflcit of the center and the periphery is ever present
It's hard to be independent enough to have your own homestead and do things the way you want AND have a cruiser and starfighter squadron in orbit paid to keep the pirates and other scum and villainry away.
@@westrim - This is why even the loudest self-proclaimed "libertarians" still want things like law enforcement/justice and a powerful military. They just don't want to pay taxes for them. The prequel era Republic was actually *very* libertarian. The central government was demilitarized and relied heavily on a faith-based organization to provide peacekeeping services. Away from Coruscant the Republic had very little control over everyday life in most systems. Your planetary/system government had more real power over you than the Senate did.
That's why I laugh at modern libertarians. Buncha unrealistic people with no understanding of how interdependent their lives really are.
@@daniels7907 The republic is an interesting example in how it provides arguments for an against such institutions and systems. Yeah the republic wasn't providing a lot but it was also acting as a block against individual worlds being able to take enough action against bad actors because of poor policy making magnified by bloat and corruption. Yet palaptines words struck a cord with many who saw an oppurtunity to try and order things which had gone wrong. That being what makes the majority of the galaxy end up welcoming the empire up until alderaan and the senate being disbanded.
When you talked about how it is similar between farmers basically everywhere, My dad was a farmer here in America until he retired. He went to visit a former foreign exchange student in Thailand. He met farmers in Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia and he saw how things were different and yet the same.
When I travel just inside the country I can see something similar with the rural people across the country weather it is in the mountains or the plains, many things are similar for the rural.
Ultimately, the Republic had a duty to help the galaxy become more connected through trade and economic stability. Palpatine and Dooku used weak points to create more division that lead to a galactic war. The Old Republic lasted for 25,000 years, but was stagnated with politics that only helped a few, but neglected others. Think about how difficult it would have been for Palpatine to conspire against the galaxy if the Republic devoted all its resources to uplift every star system for the last many thousands of years. If you have a stronger connection with the whole galaxy, the more difficult it is to divide it.
The lore says 25,000 years but the reality is that it goes through so many periods of catastrophic war and change through that time that you could not realistically call it the same institution with a straight face any more than you could call the Britain of 1500 and 2000 the same place.
Sorta like current real world politics. Only helps the rich. Starves the rest
@@mnomadvfx The classic Ship of Theseus dilemma
Said like a true libtard.
The Republic is at least 4-7000 years old though if you reject the MMORPG as incompatible. The galaxy could not reach the state it did in most of the Bane Lore had such things actually happened.
Once they face one immortal enemy, people will try harder to create immortality for the good. They'll achieve it. Everything would be different. Force Ghosts would never have been lost as a technique.
It's why Force Healing enters the Lore more seriously after facing Palpatine's clones in the books.
Anyway. The Republic Did try all that to unite the galaxy.
They were not eldritch gods, they were mostly humanoids. They forged hyperspace lanes and reached planetwide peace on many worlds. That is more than we have achieved so far.
I really enjoyed this video. As a casual Star Wars fan, its always been difficult for me to comprehend just how big the galaxy is. Because the only sectors that are mentioned are the outer rim, mid rim, and core worlds. So the question I got stuck on was "how do so many planets fit in three sections?". But now i know theres so many more sections for so many more planets to fit in. That makes more sense. I also didnt know that senators represent sectors. I just thought that each senator represented a single planet, which made the galaxy seem small. But now it just makes sense that there are hundreds of clusters of planets and stars in a bigger galaxy. And thats just in the known region.
Some senators are for single worlds, some for corporations, most for different groupings of worlds. Naboo was one of 14 worlds represented by Senators Palpatine and Amidala. There are an estimated 1 million inhabited worlds in the Republic, not counting outposts or various types of stations. Galaxies are big.
If each planet had a senator, then the entire world of Coruscant itself would have to be converted into the Senate chamber... I thought like you did and thought it just wasn't possible, but now I see that it's sectors, not planets. Hell, if every STAR in the Galaxy had a senator, the planet would still have to be converted into one giant senate. Stars in galaxies number in the billions or trillions. A Galactic Empire or Republic literally is not possible.
Rich Nations and Poor Nations by Renegade Cut has an analysis that basically explains the relationship between the Galactic Core and Galactic Rim in Star Wars.
Excelente vídeo! This is the first time I see anyone addressing the Star Wars universe with a broader and more thoughtful manner. Very aligned with the Andor TV series approach.
10:40 That's really true! I am an engineering student, and at my side job, I work with engineers. It very interesting how engineering students and engineers in general, from many different nations, have a lot of common ground. Not just in their profession, but in the way they see the world.
Great Great Great. Nothing but Great.
I'm an old Star Wars fan. I was born in 77 and I remember my old man reluctantly taking me to the marathon trilogy screenings at the movies post Jedi. I read Heir to the Empire in 91 as an adolescent and I was starving for The Phantom Menace (sad cat noises). I've read most of the now non-cannon books, and tried to accept the new cannon, with varying degrees of success.
As an adult I have studied my ass off with degrees into history, science and education.
This is by far the best detailed sociological explanation of the Star Wars universe I've seen, and hits points I've never considered.
Seriously awesome job. Well done dude.
Man, you just crank out consistently great content about the nuts and bolts of SW, be it in-universe politics or technology. Keep up the great work!
The 2020 book, "Queen's Peril" by E. K. Johnston, if you do not know, is a closer, more detailed following of Queen Amidala and her court of bodyguards/handmaidens as well as Captain Panaka and his function as the head of the Royal Guard of Naboo. The timespan of the story takes place from Padme Amidala's first day as Queen of Naboo through the events leading up to and during the story shown in the film, "The Phantom Menace." Within the storyline of the book, aspects of the political framework between Naboo and its closest neighbors, as well as in relation to the Galactic Republic is given a more informed explanation or understanding for the readers.
The true greatest conflict in Star Wars is Tax Collectors vs Tax Evaders
Edit:Happy New Year everyone
@@homer6292they keep doing the new republic dirty
We’ve been trying to reach you about your starfighters extended warranty.
That is stupid my man. Nobody wants to pay taxes, therefore they don't. It's how government goes broke.
It's the same thing, same as Urban Elites vs Flyover Country.
That conflict still goes on today. 🤣🤣🤣👍
Lucas and Disney liked to focus on the Good vs Evil story... but really, it's always the common folk who lose in any conflict. The Legends EU actually explored this more. The Shades of Grey. At least Disney is taking the hint thanks to Andor.
Actually the sleeper ships they were used before the infinite empire conquered the galaxy because their form of hyper drive use the force they could only find planets that were rich in the force they couldn’t just travel anywhere they couldn’t just map out a hyper space lane so most of the Galaxy was still unexplored and there were plenty of alien civilizations that Rosa became technologically advanced to develop slower than light travel sleeper ships and even developing ships that could travel directly at the speed of light After the infinite empire conquered these worlds though their slaves were taught in someways to work their technology which was considerably more advanced and when the empire fell the back engineered ricotta technology and developed a way to manipulate hyper space without utilizing the force it’s all in Star Wars Wookiepidea
This is very well thought out, and I agree with many of your conclusions!
I actually have a document where I write down my headcanon for a realistic Star Wars Universe. One of the points I wrote is about the growth of the New Sith Empire which takes advantage of the issues you describe to take control of the Mid and Outer Rim, and then use their resources to build up and conquer more and more of the inner galaxy. They actually become popular in these regions because they put a focus on actually investing in them.
As a result when the New Sith Empire collapses because of the Jedi, the Outer Rim and Mid Rim sort of fall into chaos. This gets even worse when the Republic comes in and basically destroy the last remaining authorities in the region, resulting in extremely high crime rates and piracy, forcing the Republic to militarily occupy them for some time.
The same thing happens again to a lesser extent after the Empire falls. Only this time, some of these regions form their own governments separate from the core New Republic.
Link to that document?
Is it possible that I could get access to that document? I'm building an Alternate Universe to the Star Wars galaxy for a role-playing table I have, and it'd be very useful!
My favorite scene in all of Star Wars is in The Force Awakens when starkiller base blows up several planets in yhe system which shows how these planets had their own history displaying culture and war that we never learn about. Only to have each of these planets wiped out in a matter of seconds after getting to know them, it’s very discomforting to me knowing something so detailed and with so much to learn about was just gone like that.
"Alderman Alan.. Love hearing his perspective, on this universe that has it's own life, that many can't understand..🙏🏾" Kudos
Yeah, feud is one of those weird words. XP gets me too.
The wars between the Sith and the Republic and/or Jedi come and go. This war... This war is eternal.
I love your message at the end, there will always be more that connects us than separates us.
I like how Allan (is that right?) is both an avid Star Wars historian as well as a teacher in his own right.
Allan you just blew my mind. I never looked at the situation that way. I will think about this while I scrape my brains off the wall. Kinda need them. Happy new year. Thanks for what you do.
Possibly the most reasonable and realistic analysis of the Star Wars galaxy I've ever seen. Well done!
Slobs Vs Snobs baby! Happy new year
Alan: “What is the greatest conflict in Star Wars history?”
Darth Vader: “There is no conflict.”
If James Luceno's novel, "Darth Plagueis" is to be believed, the tension between the core and outer rim was orchestrated by the Bane line of Sith. So, the real conflict in Star Wars is still Light Side vs Dark Side.
Nah core and rim were at odds even before that though, even in the Kotor games you see how rim planets got the short end of the stick
Bro. your take on Star Wars is unique and simply amazing. I love how you use real world examples to explain things sometimes. 👏🏾💯
in the 90s, i read a Tales of the Jedi ? comic or some star wars comic book and it was about a brother and sister living on a space station? and they were map makers, of hyperspace bylanes? and they owed money to their landlord, who was a Hutt, and that's all i remember, that and that hyperspace bylanes weren't fully mapped out yet.
Happy New Year Allen.
Have a. Prosperous Year 2023
Four minutes in, when you start talking about the two classes, reminded me of the social classes in the Hunger Games.
THAT'S your go-to example of class divide?
@@westrim many people do not have even an iota of class consciousness because of the education systems in place in capitalist societies
The idea that the Core vs the Rim is the basis for Star Wars conflicts is patently false. Not only did the Republic Army and Navy prior to the New Sith Wars have plenty of support from the Outer Rim during their wars against the Sith, but the Sith-led Galactic Empire was as much a boon to the Outer Rim worlds as it was for the Core, with many worlds gaining industries to support the war effort, as well as gaining jobs in both the industry and the army, along with actual protection as opposed to the taxation-without-protection that the Republic prior to the Clone Wars offered. Not to mention that the top three men in the Empire, Emperor Palpatine, Grand Moff Tarkin, and Darth Vader, all came from outside the Core Worlds. Eriadu and Tatooine were both Outer Rim planets, Naboo was on the Mid-Rim but bordering close to the Outer Rim.
From an outside glance, it seems as if the Empire favored the core worlds over the Outer Rim, but that is a bold-faced lie. Vader and the Emperor treated the coreworld elite like disposable thugs, letting them serve in the army and navy as generals and admirals, but having no compunction in sending them to die or killing them when they fail. Not to mention that Tarkin annihilated Alderaan, which was a very important Core World, and the Empire's final refuge after it lost Coruscant was Bastion, so even the Empire made its final home in the Outer Rim after the coreworld senatorial elite retook their power during the rise of the New Republic and the Galactic Alliance. So at the end of the day, the Empire was an Outer Rim faction; it got a hold of the core for a while, but its top three men were Outer Rim yokels and they treated the coreworld elite like cannon fodder.
Every war after the Galactic Civil War further reinforced this; the New Republic and the Rebel Alliance, which looks like they'd stand for the Outer Rim yokels against the Empire, were actually funded by coreworld elites and abandoned many Outer Rim systems to the Yuuzhan Vong in their vain attempt to lure the Vong to a climactic fleet battle. The coreworld elites stopped being the Emperor's pawns and became senatorial aristocracy once again under the New Republic and the Galactic Alliance, and wars such as the Imperial-Sith War and the Second Galactic Civil War were less about the core versus the rim, but more about ideas and beliefs. The Imperial-Sith War was a civil war between Jedi Imperials and Sith Imperials, to decide who would rule the Empire after the Galactic Alliance fell. The Second Galactic Civil War was started due to a spat between Corellia and Coruscant-two core worlds.
Outside of the Pius Dea Crusades and the Republic's early expansion wars, the only war in Star Wars which was about the core versus the Outer Rim in the films was the Clone Wars. And that war was a fake war to begin with. Not to mention the fact that during the Jedi-Sith wars, both had their patsies in the Outer Rim and the Core Worlds. Some Outer Rim worlds stood strong for the Republic. Some Core World factions in Alderaan and Corellia supported the Sith. Hell, during the New Sith Wars, most of the galaxy fell to the Sith, with only Coruscant and a few systems remaining with the Republic. So much for the core-vs-outer rim thing; most of the galaxy during the New Sith Wars answered to one Sith lord or another.
Core vs rim is a funny way to look at it when the alsakkan conflicts which were pretty big and bloody were almost entirely fought by core worlders and put many others but the sith wars to shame
Alderaan supported the Sith? Karma!
@@theliato3809 Exactly. And even all the way to the Second Galactic Civil War, what is it? A spat between core worlds.
@@АлексейМомот-щ7о House Thul in Alderaan supported the Sith, while Organa supported the Jedi and House Ulgo created an independent military dictatorship that both sides fought against.
@@АлексейМомот-щ7о "You see, Princess Leia, I am redeeming Alderaan of its past crimes." -Grand Moff Tarkin 5 seconds before Alderaan turns into space dust
Agree that we’re all not that different. The real solution is to kind of live and let live. Most people won’t mess with you if you just…leave them alone. The problem comes when people in one place try to give their will on others. For example, an urban area trying to force their worldview and laws on surrounding rural areas. When the simple answer for peace is simple inaction - it requires no effort to leave people alone. It’s the exact opposite, in fact - it simply requires no effort at all.
You sparked an idea for a story. When you mentioned the early force useres mapping out lanes - I think there is potential in some really good stories there. Humming- creative juicers flowing. Of course, I've not reD much of the EU, and none of the comics, so I don't know if there is anything like that now.
Nice summary and perspective in current world affairs, thanks
Immensely interesting. You sketch an astoundingly vast tapestry upon which aspiring novelists (my hand is in the air!) could weave innumerable stories!
In swtor there's this really nice plot the sith use.
They basically exploit the hate the outer rim had for the core in order to gain support in the outer rim just to eventually exploit them in their turn
I think that for the best of the galaxy, the Republic should be limited to just the Core Worlds while the other territories in the galaxy can be allowed to form their own independent nations.
You have a nice idea, but there are reasons why many regions of our planet lack what netizens take for granted.
It takes knowledge, wisdom and determination across generations to make a habitable world reach the relative insignificance of Naboo. Usually that combination is not found all in one place, and there needs to be some reasons for people with all that to gather.
Half the reason there is anyone living in the Outer-Rim is because of finance from the Core, failing that some big fish of the Mid-Rim who was once financed by the Core. The other half is a mix of crime & freedom-seeking. Building civilization is hard, and investment from outside the project can make it easier - at least in theory.
I love your break downs. The way you look at the world. I think you would enjoy James A Michener books especially The Source. When I was on my first tour in Afghanistan I saw a mother being tender with her daughters and I thought. That mother and her daughters has more similarities with my mom and my sisters than difference and I felt shook. Thanks for your content. I'm surprised your not a vet with how you break things down
Very interesting piece. I love that kind of thiking beyond. Thanks.
One point looks weird for a french like me: the idea that urban centers enjoy a strong-hand leadership and that more backwater areas prefer a looser rule.
Looking at history from my country I kinda see it the other way around: people from big cities and mostly from Paris were the first to try and fight central power, perhaps because they were the first to feel the tight grip of monarchy, while people in the countryside remained loyal to the crown longer - even fought the newly founded republic - and with historic retrospect seemed relieved when someone took power again. This struggle to be free kept appearing in cities (first documented one I can think of dates back to 12th century, when Bordeaux tried to found a commune) and kept alive for than a century after Paris first beheaded a king.
So, long story shorty, for me it's kinda surprising that Star Wars galaxy looks like it's the other way around. You sound like it seems the obvious way to you. So I wonder... are we french people taking things in reverse or is it just the galactic/US way that's uncommon ?
Thus it all boils down to an Aesop fable: "The Country Mouse and the City Mouse."
This dude is secretly extremely intelligent, guaranteed. That was really cool and interesting.
Very secretly.... Like jar jar Binks secretly
Sounds like the Firefly universe. Hmm. Think on this, I must.
Been that way since the dawn of agriculture; I don't expect it to change any time soon. Cain was a settled farmer and proto-urbanite while Able was a migratory shepherd.
It always seems to get overlooked that the Empire did not create their whole system from scratch. They built on Republic institutions and practices. Some were definitely made worse but the foundations were much older that the Empire.
The ancient F.U.-ed when the Core and the Outer Rim said "F.U." to each other.
Happy New Year's, Generation Tech
Definitely looking forward towards more of your content here again this year
In the end, the Star Wars are ultimately about the Class War.
Well thought-out thesis, Alan...thanks for this new way to look at these stories!
Happy New Year dude. Been a sub of yours for years. Keep up the great work. Hope this trip around the flaming nuclear fireball in the sky 🌞brings you health and happiness.
aye this guys been reading marx💯 star wars is so centered on class conflict its crazy
"Well, if there's a bright center to the universe, you're on the planet that it's farthest from." Master Luke
Hahaha omg how am I even here still
Well actually it sucks because I know so many of you kept getting me out of my own messes lol
But for the love of God and the decades of wondering never knowing who I even was or what purpose I had
Honestly I often just said I'm left on here till one day I'll be free or released and that was worst times when abuse own body health demonic as others wanted but keept getting up for another punishing journey.
😊😊😊Then it hit me I just need say goodbye and walk away from that life
I new there was always a presence but when I went solo on the streets
It was like everyone laughing mocking lying and I was like
Take me to school and work on my flaws and one day I'll be back again.
I love all who made. It possible
We're gonna have a feud here. It's FEUD, NOT "FUED."
Makes me think of the Expanse tv show (Earth vs Mara, with Belters used & abused) or the concept of less latency & therefore more desirability for cyber entities inward in the solar system vs the outer planets in the book Accelerando (by Charles Stross).
Thanks for the interesting take on the Star Wars space opera universe! (I guess George Lucas did always enjoy human and political and/or philosophical story structures more than the science.)
Happy new years everyone
What an excellent video and very well delivered. Great work.
In the Grimdark future, there is only conflict.
This matches ideas here in our world of “core” and “peripheral” zones.
At the macro level the core zones are consumers, often colonised lands like Australia and the U.S, while the peripheral zones which are fertile areas previously occupied during previous centuries now producing the goods they consume: e.g coffee, bought just above the cost of production.
On a smaller scale this happens within countries and within cities, which you can see with residential and industrial zoning.
This maps on well to the notion of proletariat and bourgeoisie but not perfectly.
5:21 : As far as I know Padme acutely represented just Naboo. This was due to the fact that Naboo joined really late (not even a 100 Years BBY), so late that time of expansion was over and there wouldn't be a problem whit further planets joining and wanting one seat for their own. Also, Naboo was of great Economic important, because it exported Plasma, a rare resource and the republic desperately wanted it. It also had a long history/culture of politic participation + it had relatively many inhabitants.
Source: Plagues triologie
Sometimes people dont choose where to live, they live where they can as well how they can such as well constructed residencies or inhuman self made houses.
This got me thinking about what earth would be like if it was in the Star wars galaxy, and how it would be treated if it was in different regions. It's on the larger side in population, and although not even close to many planets in the Galaxy, give it star wars tech and a century, it'd be a heck of a lot higher, giving it a sizeable population.
One of the things that sets Earth apart from the planets in Star wars is that it is far less homogeneous, both in terms of geography and population. Like imagine Earth today getting one single representative in the galactic Senate, or even having to share one with other planets; we'd be pissed about that. Tbf having the technology of the star wars universe and being heavily involved in galactic affairs would probably help get earthlings to cooperate as whole more, but I think it would still be a major issue
Very nice video! Love the different perspective !
This is a fantastic video, man. Well done. Excellent cultural and historical overview. Very impressive.
One of the interesting aspects of star wars is that it’s completely unipolar during peacetime. We can see a lot of parallels between star wars and the geopolitics of our post-colonial world, the galactic core is essentially the global north and the rim regions are the global south. But the key difference is that in star wars, the core is completely united. The real world has always been multipolar, first it was European empires competing to expand their colonial influence, then it was the ideological struggle of socialism vs. capitalism during the cold war, and now it’s looking like the next few decades will be a rivalry between the US and China. The galaxy was essentially always united under the Republic or Empire, rather than there being multiple large political entities looking to spread their influence to the outer rim and economically compete with one another. The factions that oppose the core are either not large enough to compete with it economically and in political influence, or end up directly going to war with the core and destroying themselves in the process (or becoming the new core in the case of the rebellion becoming the alliance to restore the republic)
From a realism standpoint, space is huuuuuge. For example, different mining groups could continue exploiting new barren planets and asteroids for a very long time before actually finding themselves in competition, or in any meaningful way seeing those resources start to dwindle. So unless you're, say, a merchant looking to cater to a specific clientele, you probably don't have it too rough with competition; and if you do, you can probably move to a different market just slightly further away without too much difficulty. The expansiveness of the galaxy could contribute to how there rarely seems to be competition between these groups. But I agree that it is curious that they are so unified in ideologies, at least in peaceful times. Perhaps they've seen such issues hashed out so many times over 25,000 years that they just need to look at history books now, to decide what to believe ideologically.
The prequels generation really missed out on a lot of stuff that the original trilogy generation grew up on. About the second trilogy... they have toys at least
Generation Tech, that is probably the BEST video that you made on Star Wars. You could probably categorize Star Wars as a Galactic Tragedy of the Commons. Or just Tragedy of the Galactic Commons. Let me know your thoughts.
The main conflict in the Far Far Away Galaxy is the one between the Have and Have Nots. Class, social and economical.
It is not logical to deny surplus resources to those in need. 🤔
"The history of all hitherto existing societies is the history of class struggles" -Kall Maxx, wookie
That walking carpet was really on to something
Seriously? I thought she was just Naboo's Senator and that was it.
She’s always referred to as “…the senator from Naboo…” which is the same honorific we use in the USA for our senators who do represent a single state that they’re from, the confusion is very understandable
Stable hyperspace lanes has to do with the physics of the galaxy and the technology of ships. It was in the internet of smugglers and pioneers to figure those out without government help.
Communications arrays would probably be a Republic infrastructure interest, but the areas were dangerous.
It was usually against the ideals of the Republic to have a standing army except when the Sith were an immediate present danger.
Had the Republic chosen to not disband its professional military forces, it could have brought security to the rim worlds and even better economically exploited and regulated them to fight the Hutts and Bounty Hunters.
Presumably it was logistics at for the most part they were busy trying to stabilize just that with the Mid Rim Jedi missions but to save costs they liked outsourcing to the Jedi Order instead of committing to an Army.
The Jedi could fairly easily police a certain distance from Coruscant, but not too far.
The Intergalactic Banking Clan came under the control of the Sith approximately 400 BBY ish when Darth Tenebrous noted that it was the best place to plant his apprentice Plagueis on.
I don't know the name of Tenebrous' Master but it would have been shortly after Darth Gaean I think.
Video idea: what if the republic started acting like the empire without palpatines influence
Honestly, how can you manage an entire galaxy under on government and hope to fulfill basic needs of everyone CIS or something similar is something that would have happened naturally someday if Palpatine hadn't pushed it.
True. The republic should of created a secondary outer republic that’s whol point would be to manage the outer and mid rim.
Why it didn't happen before? That's the question that comes to me now..
@@spaceengineeringempire4086 last I check, even in our history, establishing a secondary government when the government is too big to manage ALWAYS goes wrong...
See: Alexander's Empire after his death, Mongol Empire, and Roman Empire split in to East and West.
@@lavryadam4774 People with power do not abide competition for long.
Always interesting and informative keep up the great work.
Completed unrelated to this video but what if Spike Lee directed a Star Wars movie or tv episode? That would be wild.
*FUED!*
Rural vs Urban. The more things change, the more they stay the same. We've been doing this since the ancient days of Nomadic Herders vs Settled Farmers. The future is bright!
Not where I thought the video was going but that was good.
I love these thoughtful societal kind of videos!
I wonder what the most optimal and fair system of government would be for the Star Wars Galaxy. Maybe something like a mix of the EU and US perhaps; where sectors would be able to handle their own internal and some external affairs with other sectors, while there is also central federal government that can manage issues of pan-galactic importance and determines certain equitable minimum standards (ie sentient rights, labor practices, environmental management, wages, equitable resource and capital distribution, etc) for each sector to have?
Or maybe give every planet in the Galaxy core world levels of representation. 😂
I wish I knew more about how the New Republic worked in canon & legends. I think The Templin Institute's imagined version of the New Republic was very compelling.
This was a very good episode , Alan for President in 24’!👏🏾👏🏾
FYI your thumbnail is misspelled - it's feud, not fued :)
I've always wondered if the presence of teleportation gateways would actually improve the Star wars Galaxy, not like the wharf gates in Warhammer 40K but more kin to perhaps Stargates or space Bridges from transformers?
I know about the ancient gateways created by the rakata , the gree and the kwa. I mean actual gateways created by say whatever is raining over the Galaxy a few hundred years after the collapse of the galactic Republic whoever is capable and could create these as a way of establishing a permanent order by guaranteeing economic and cultural peace
2:04 The map says Bepsin instead of Bespin.
I don't know what a "fued" is. It is a feud much older than the Jedi vs the Sith though.
It's also the Expansion Region, not Expansion Reigon as was shown on the map. @ 1:53
@@The-Mstr-Pook That's hilarious. They ought to spell check everything a bit more often.
I only clicked on the video and comments at first just to see if anyone else was going to mention the laziness of the thumbnail and spelling. Thumbnails are very easy to swap out and change, more than anything else on a video. Hate to see someone go to all this effort for a video and have that on the cover. Will it happen?
The true conflict is between the gonk and the bantha
There will be no peace until a victor is decided
Wonderful video. Got me listening to every word form start to finish lol
I fucking love Star Wars. I mean this is the shit right? My mind if blown. Great video bro.
The Real Conflict in Star Wars is between good writing and bad writing.
You mentioned that your alligance is to the Republic and to democracy. That's a bit of a contridiction because they are not the same. A republic is a representative form of government (where congressmen and/or senators represent the people) and a democracy is where the majority rules. Just throwing that out there. :)
I still really enjoyed this video.
This is some of your best work keep it up
Star Wars: it has always been social commentary.
*Star wars - SELFISH VS SELFLESS*
You misspelled feud in the thumbnail
The famous spires vs domes conflict.
Hey Alan! You misspelled "feud" in the thumbnail.
Referring to your point at 10:33, I think the framing we have for our daily lives as adhering to a national identity does definitely blind the commonalities and universal experiences we all go through, and that really emphasizes, to me, the dangers and potential obsolescence of Nationalism as a part of your identity. We're all people before we're American, Vietnamese, etc. The history and context of those identities absolutely matter, but staying rigidly adhered to them on principle or being confined to them is bad and can be disastrous
Nice analysis! The history of humanity has basically been this, the exploitation of the periphery by an imperial core. Specifically it mirrors the forced extraction of resources and labor value from the Global South to the benefit of the Global North, and the anti-imperial struggles within those exploited countries that are always suppressed through covert CIA-induced coups or overt military interventions.
Still alive?
If you like this also check out Dune and Foundation written by Frank Herbert and Isaac Asimov respectively which Star wars also draws from, and Akira Kurosawas movie the Hidden fortress based on Japans Edo period.
Why did I imagine that Jakku was super remote? Maybe it's the desert vibe
As a Star Wars fan old enough to remember the Christmas holiday special (that made me a Star Wars fan), I can say that I appreciate over these decades that Lucas has been able to incorporate many of his original ideas-such as Journey of the Whills, and if any of his original ideas became a source of inspiration, say, for the characters in Rebels. I could be completely off base here, but whenever I watch the original trilogy, I think it’s more the story of Darth Vader. When I watch the prequel’s, I think it’s more of the story of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Obi-Wan. Now there’s a guy who could turn lemons into lemonade.
I think Luke Skywalker’s true adventures start immediately after Return of the Jedi and we only get that in the role-playing game and fanfiction that is now in the garbage- thanks to Disney!